One thousand petals
by WannabeWerewolf
Summary: With the promise of one thousand petals comes the knowledge of pain, fear, trust, and one thousand moments of care toward one another. TatsWat
1. Chapter 1

A light cherry blossom danced through the wind, slowly fluttering past Yutaka Watari's window. Watari followed it with his eyes for a brief moment before he held his hand out of the open window and caught the petal deftly between two long fingers. With a crooked smile, Watari walked back to his cluttered desk, and unscrewed a jar sitting on it with his free hand. He dropped the petal in it, screwing the cap back on and lifting the glass jar eye level.

The jar, which Watari dug out of his lab supplies, was filled with the delicate pink petals. It held a little note taped to the side, scrawled on which was the number "999" The scientist ripped the note off, and wrote a new number upon the jar, "1000"

"Yutaka, that was about time" Watari mumbled to himself, throwing himself in the comfortable chair in front of his computer. He turned the jar over in his hands, admiring the collection of petals, looking still as if they had just broke free of their branches. He waved the jar in front of his dozing owl. "003...1000 petals, just as I have promised!" Watari informed his owl triumphantly.

003 opened an eye, ruffling her feathers with irritation. She gave a hoot sounding like "Good for you" and promptly returned to her dozing. Watari eyed her indignantly. "Well, you be that way 003, and I'll tell you what happens when I get back, all right?" he told his owl.

"But..." he continued, turning his eyes back to the jar. "Tatsumi told me to collect these ages ago. He'll probably just shrug off any promise he made, but it's worth a shot I suppose, eh 003?"

She hooted sleepily again, telling him to get going.

"All right, I am off" Watari told her, hastily rebraiding his hair and cleaning his glasses on his labcoat. Grabbing the jar, he gave his owl a cheery wave and exited the lab.

Turning the jar nervously over in his hands, the scientist entered the staff room, quickly taking inventory of all the people inside. Terazuma was there, complaining to his partner Wakaba, who just nodded in silent responses. Tsuzuki and Hisoka sat a couple of chairs away from the other pair. Hisoka sipped a cup of tea wearily, writing figures down on his paperwork while Tsuzuki ate busily, dropping crumbs on his own late work.

All four looked up when Watari stepped inside, either waving cheerfully, or nodding their greetings.

Watari waved back, and sat inbetween the two pairs, thumping the jar down with a flourish. Tsuzuki raised an eyebrow, leaning over to look at the jar more closely. "Hey, Watari" he said, wiping crumbs off his mouth, "what's that for?"

"This jar will allow me to get answers from Tatsumi" Watari said brightly. "I asked him what he wanted or missed the most, and all he said was":

Watari leaned back from the table, sitting up with impeccable posture, and throwing his braid over his shoulder. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Trying his best to put on a look of irritation, Watari said stiffly, without his kansai accent "When you put one-thousand cherry blossom petals in a jar without them losing their color will I tell you anything. Back to work"

Tsuzuki giggled, "That's a great impression Watari!"

Watari leaned forward again, grinning mischeviously. "So, I did. And hopefully he will remember, and tell me"

Wakaba smiled. "It'll be an interesting response" she said. "Good luck with getting Tatsumi to tell you!"

"Tell you what?"

The employees spun to see the topic of their conversation standing irritably in the doorway. One arm was across his chest, the other was pushing his glasses up his nose, above suspicious eyes.

"I don't remember having staff breaks this long" the secretary said stiffly. "Nor do I approve of them being filled with gossip"

Tsuzuki gave Tatsumi a wide stupid grin. "We weren't gossiping" he said brightly. "We were just...conversing"

Hisoka caught himself nearly snorting in his tea, with his partner's response. Gaining composure, he coughed politely. "I apologize, Tsuzuki and I were just on our way back to complete our paperwork" Hisoka stood, draining the remainder of his tea. Grabbing his parter by the arm he dragged him up and toward the exit. "Let's go, you idiot" he mumbled lowly.

Tatsumi stepped aside to let them pass, and turned his eyes on the remaining employees. "Well? Have you completed your work?"

Wakaba smiled "Yes, we have. We'll drop it off by your office right now" She stood. "We better get going, Hajime-chan"

Terazuma grumbled, but stood anyway. After they had passed, Tatsumi turned to Watari, who lounged on a chair smiling nervously. Regardless of the friendship he had with Tatsumi, the secretary was still a man never to be crossed. Watari decided not to beat around the bush as he usually did, but just go straight to the point.

"Watari, you aren't getting paid to sit here and be idle" Tatsumi barked. He noticed the jar in Watari's hands. "What's that? New experiment?"

The scientist shook his head, and stood, extending the jar out. "Remember you told me you would tell me what you most wanted or missed if I collected 1000 cherry blossom petals?"

Tatsumi looked down at the jar suspiciously, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I don't recall" he replied stiffly.

Watari pushed the jar into Tatsumi's hands. "Well, I do!" he exclaimed. "Here, 1000. I'll get back to work now, but you _promised_ me a response!"

Watari emphasized the word 'promise'. He already knew Tatsumi was quite noble when it came to things like that.

With a nervous grin, Watari avoided Tatsumi's stern blue eyes as he made his way toward the exit.

Tatsumi frowned, turning the jar over in his hands, thinking. Finally he looked up. "I'll think about it, Watari. Now back to work, I don't have time to idly sit by and collect petal s and you can't afford such time either!"

Watari grinned, and walked briskly out, down the hall to his lab again. Tatsumi remained behind, frowning. He held the petals to his eyes for a moment before briskly turning on his heel back toward his office, muttering "If there aren't _one-thousand_ petals in here, Watari is getting cut from his paycheck"

Ill get the next chapter up in a couple of days. If you have any comments, please review. It would really help me out, thank you ;;


	2. Death

Death and rebirth.

That is what these petals represent.

However, they do not follow nature's cycle, like they do on Earth. So what does that mean? Do they represent death, or rebirth? And what had caused Tatsumi to wish for one-thousand of those petals?

The secretary shook his head with such thoughts. He did not know. And the thought of not having an answer troubled the man greatly.

Watari and himself were sitting idly at a restaurant. It had been a tough day at the office. Budget cuts swept all of the departments, and the computers all suffered severe malfunctions from the lightning storms the Ministry had experienced the previous night. With such setbacks, Tatsumi and Watari were rushing back and forth to set things straight. Watari had suggested dinner out to calm their nerves. Tatsumi was reluctant to agree. After all, money was scarce after the cuts and the secretary figured a cup of tea at home would suffice. However, he wearily agreed, not willing to argue.

Over wine, Watari had brought the subject up. He leaned forward, playing with his glass. His eyes were flashing with curiosity. Or intoxication, Tatsumi had thought. Whatever the reason, Watari said, voice quite serious "What do you hope to accomplish here?"

Tatsumi blinked with confusion. He pushed his glasses up his nose. "Excuse me?" he asked. "Why did you become a Shinigami?" Watari asked quietly.

Tatsumi looked down, adjusting his glasses. "Why such a question?" he asked.

Watari shrugged, leaning back into his chair. He idly twirled a lock of hair around a finger. Tatsumi noticed that as one of Watari's curious habits. He held the same glint in his eyes, the same habit of playing with his hair when he was fixing a piece of hardware, or on the break of a scientific discovery.

"Well..." Watari started slowly. "You do not seem power hungry...but you have such a high position in our department, you work hard, but it seems empty, like you don't get anything in return" He took another sip of wine, coughed slightly, and rested his chin in his palms. "Are you here for your job, or the people...your friends? Do you care for anyone here?...I know you were partnered with Tsuzuki...what were you thinking after that?"

Tatsumi gripped his wine glass tightly, astonishment clouding his senses for a moment. How blunt...how...insensitive it seemed. Insensitive, not of Watari's question, but of its essence. Old feelings raced through Tatsumi again, emotions he had not felt since his death, his partnership with Tsuzuki, his position in a land balanced between life and death seemed to stare back at him, repeating the scientist's question.

_What are you doing here, Seiichirou?_

He pushed his glasses up his nose again, staring at the vegetables on his plate. His reason was buried deep, a place beneath his heart, buried underneath budgetary concerns, and paperwork. Buried beneath work, and the ever present shock of life not on earth. Buried beneath the feelings he held with his co-workers, beneath his time as a Shinigami, beneath Tsuzuki's laugh, smiles, and tears.

What would be his answer?

To collect one-thousand cherry blossom petals. Those dancing blossoms surfaced in his mind. _What am I doing here?_

Death and Rebirth, cherry blossoms represent death and rebirth.

And now, Watari had managed to collect one-thousand of those petals. Stuffed inside a jar, its symbolic meaning stifled underneath Watari's curiosity. His everpresent curiosity.

Tatsumi looked up and told Watari of the collection of those petals, only then would he inform Watari of his answer. Watari smiled faintly, settled back in his chair again, and drowned the remainder of his wine. "Then I will tell you my own answer" Watari had said, a promising gleam in his eyes.

And now, this is where it left Tatsumi Seiichirou. Walking underneath those fabled cherry blossom trees, emotions surfacing from that hidden place. He had hoped Watari had forgot, or perhaps Tatsumi could have waved it off, as if he had said no such thing.

_A promise is a promise, Seiichirou. _

_Why did I become a Shinigami. _

_Why is my co-worker, my...friend...so curious?_

Tatsumi pushed his glasses up his nose, wearily closing his eyes and leaning against the trunk of a cherry blossom tree. Tsuzuki resurfaced in his mind again, purple eyes livid with tears.

_'Your own mother, Seiichirou! She is so upset! A good son would help her feel better. She is always crying, why do you not help her?'_

_'Your partner always seems so sad, Tatsumi-san. Is everything all right with Tsuzuki-san? You are his partner. You do not know what is bothering him, Tatsumi-san?'_

Tatsumi shook his head. "I do not know what is wrong" he admitted to the dancing blossoms. "I cannot help. So, why am I here?"

"I do not know what is wrong" Watari thought alive, half to himself, half to his owl. "What do I do?" he asked, looking across to the tops of the pink trees. A man stood across the front gardens, against the trunk of a tree. Watari fiddled with his glasses, looking closely from his lab window. "Tatsumi is there. Among the trees. I think I struck a nerve." Watari pulled back from the window, looking back at 003. "Is he all right?"

003 lifted a wing in a shrug, then pointing it to the door. Watari nodded. "And I approach the secretary again. Dearie me, I think I made him upset"

003 shrugged again. _You were planning that from the beginning, weren't you?_ She thought.

With a nod to his owl, the scientist strode from the lab. 003 took her companion's position at the window to see a white clad figure stride quickly across to meet the other.

Watari forced himself to breathe in and out slowly. Fulfilling the promise of one-thousand petals...was a promise made to feel worrisome, awkward, concerned and curious? Was it worth the stride across the garden, petals getting caught in Watari's blonde hair, the feel of the grass underneath his shoes as he strode quickly across.

Now, such actions were doubled in their essence. The air felt more crisp against his skin. The wind had been kicked up, and seemed threatened to gust and pull at Watari's spirit. The birds seemed aware of the walk, chattering to each other frantically.

Tatsumi had turned, to see the scientist walk swiftly toward him. He swallowed, adjusted his glasses, and pushed himself from the tree trunk. "So curious for an answer" he said quietly. "Really, every Shinigami is here for the same purpose"

Watari stopped two feet away. The wind pulled at his coat and hair, giving him the air of a heroic persona. His eyes glinted with curiosity. Questions seemed ready to spill from his mouth, a joke, or a tease. Those words were caught. Watari was speechless.

Tatsumi sighed, and removed a hand from his glasses. "We are all here for a lack of what any human person needs. A lifetime without it, and now an eternity searching for it. You are intelligent Watari-san. Surely you have noticed"

Watari remained silent, looking at the presence in front of him. A manipulator of shadows, a presence feared and respected in the Ministry. Now this being was filled with a sense of wisdom that Watari had never possessed.

Tatsumi caught a cherry blossom petal in two fingers. He looked at it for a moment, crisp blue eyes sparkling. Finally he looked at the silent scientist in front of him.

"These petals represent death and rebirth. Answer me Watari...why are _you_ here?"

Watari opened his mouth in surprise. Finally, he said quietly "I was alone"

The wind gusted again, tearing off the petals from their branches. They danced around the two figures, in a slow, rythmic waltz.


	3. Rebirth

Those dancing blossoms. They mocked the weather patterns of the Living World. They drifted, and skipped through the air, taunting the harshness of the land below. So unforgiving. Death down below. Rebirth in Pergatory. It made no difference where a soul was. You were faced with the same mocking, the same soul wrenching difficulties you had faced before.

That was why every Shinigami was employed. How many Shinigami passed through those halls because of loneliness? Social creatures. Those were what the Shinigami were, and at the same time, yearned to be. Humans are social creatures. Shinigami were human. So, what are they now? Less than human? Wolves in sheeps clothing? Or simply just wolves. Yearning to be part of a pack but still very lonesome, sad creatures. Creatures who would nip and shred for the tiny taste of a real happiness. A real human existance

That was why they were here.

The secretary had neve bothered to ask Watari of his past. After all, private matters must be kept private. Humorous ideas of Watari's reason to be here had drifted past Tatsumi's mind before. Blown up in his lab? Drank a poisonous concoction? Tinkering with electric and shocked himself to death?

But Tatsumi did not know. He could not see through those honeyed eyes behind those glasses. One did not normally see sorrow in those eyes. They were flickering with curiosity, or humor. Such eyes he had looked into numerous times, as he held and consoled Tsuzuki.

Remembering such eyes...he never wanted to know the truth behind them. It only lay in pain, sorrow, and a soul that had wasted away, almost to the point of death.

But those eyes surely cannot be Watari's.

Watari looked down, as if realizing the personal detail he had allowed to slip through his lips. Was this all a mistake? He did not expect such a heavy response from Tatsumi. Maybe Watari should not have collected one-thousand of those fabled cherry blossoms. He shouldn't have disturbed the stoic, cold secretary that stood before him. An imposing and respectable being.

Watari pulled on a lock of hair, running through anything to lighten the situation. He found nothing. With a nod, Watari turned on his heel, to return to the dark corridors and haunted rooms of the Ministry. A safe haven.

Startled, the secretary lifted a hand. "Watari" he called, quiet and commanding. Watari turned, eyebrow raised. He expected a chewing out, a scolding, a reason for the frivolty he pressed on the secretary in the past day.

The scientist wasn't in the mood. His response had brushed something within him that he hadn't felt since his first days as a supernatural being. He eyed Tatsumi with a tired eye, and a pursed mouth.

"I did not mean to...to make you remember anything Watari" Tatsumi said, arm still out in mid-gesture. "It's just that your question regarding my past really made me remember some things"

Watari turned to face Tatsumi. His narrowed eyes behind the spectacles held a dim sparkle of curiosity, and a present barrier of privacy.

"I wasn't planning for you to think so hard for a response" Watari said quietly, sticking his hands in his coat pockets. "Actually, I half expected you to laugh, and shove the jar back in my hands"

Tatsumi allowed himself a slight smile. He turned his back to Watari. After a moment of thinking, Tatsumi called over his shoulder:

"You asked over dinner. I suppose I will give you an answer over dinner. A fair answer, since you were honest with me"

Light brown eyes widened. The scientist walked silently to the back of the other man. Watari caught another petal between his fingers, and offered it to Tatsumi. "You really do keep your promises, don't you?" he asked, smiling.

Tatsumi touched Watari's hand lightly, and took the petal. He looked at it for a moment. "Rebirth" he whispered.

"A promise is the most anyone can offer"

He released it. The petal continued it's dancing journey to the ground.

Oooooo

One chapter to go everyone Please drop me a line with your comments, and thank you so much for keeping up with the story so far!


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